Thanks to all concerned individuals who really contribute a lot for everyone to know these relevant things. In this community, I really appreciate the efforts of these people who really write to inform anybody in this scene. Thanks for the great effort. I learned a lot, I am pretty sure we are in great number.

Not a big injury but might have been one so I thought I 'd share this with you. Attempting a popped backroll on one of those days when everything is so great and we all feel invincible and mighty, I did it with so much speed and spin that I landed full speed on the nose of the board and my left knee bended so much that the quadriceps muscle was injured (muscle fibres ruptured) causing a lot of pain and disabling the limb completely. I returned to the beach kiting on one leg... It took me two and a half weeks to kite again...

Moral: We are not unbreakable and invincible, even on days that all our tricks succeed, wind is perfect etc. We still need to perform tricks correctly, not only to succeed but also to be safe (in every backroll tutorial, moderate speed is advised, nobody proposes doing it at full speed). It is neither pleasant nor safe to sustain a significant knee or thigh injury in the middle of the sea tied to a powerful kite. To put it differently, it might ok to sustain an injury out of bad luck but not out of stupidity.

i have one...i was doing a self landing, one that I've done soooooo many times before. Hook the leash to an outside line (oh shit handle) and then get out of the loop and let go. I was expecting the outside line to flag the kite but the velcro didn't pop... resulting in a decently powered kite doing low loops. I got dragged around, but was in good control of things and there was NOTHING for a long long way to be concerned about. I didn't want to ditch the kite right away as there was a road in the distance. As hard as I tried, I couldn't reach the bar to counter steer in order to get it to stop looping. After 150 feet or so or trying a few things I decided to pull the leash safety and then run and collect the kite. It actually didn't get all that far.

So now... I've either cut back the velcro tabs or cut them off so that they would work reliably in all situations. I think nearly all kites have this flagging set-up, so please give the velcro a good test, or cut the tabs back so that they will give when you need them to.

Flagging is an outdated term. Modern kites don't flag, except for some C's and non-inflatables. But even Flysurfer now has a 5th line.Kites keep their shape largely, so keep pulling and sometimes looping, if they're not in 5th-line (smile) position.

i cannot imagine any instructor telling you to tie yourself in to the 5th line. would anyone here go out in any conditions with no means of releasing the kite, especially in 30-40 mph winds?.

somewhat related, early this spring, a storm came in and i quickly headed to shore, but no one else was around. so i deployed the 5th line. the kite did exactly what is was supposed to (flew on the 5th only with little power), but the winds were so strong at this point that it would not come down. i sat on the beach as the kite flew upside down, but didn't want to completely release it (i should have). after about 5 minutes sitting there with the kite in the air, i foolishly tried to walk up the 5th line to the kite (as it still flew), but a big gust came along and did a number on my fingers. even with the kite upside with not much power, my hands were no match for it. this gust yanked on the 5th so hard, it tore the 5th's attachment off the LE, and the kite was toast (my fingers only damaged enough to keep me off water for 2 weeks). i still think the 5th is a great tool, but as you experienced, its not 100%...nothing is. always have a method to say 'bye-bye' to the kite. very glad you're ok.

I had 3 days of lessons (12 hours total), i have practiced with a trainer kite for a couple of hours and had an additional two hours of personal lessons with the waterstart. Finally i managed to stand on my boards for about 15-20 metres. Than i quited my run because i was afraid getting to far away from my instructor.

I got my lessons on quite onshore wind conditions. Actually with that type of conditions there isn´t much space to make errors. Nonetheless i managed to ride with onshore winds my first meters so that means i can stay upwind right?

Now i was wondering about the following issue. I could more easily start to the left (my rightfoot as backfoot) than to the right. Im afraid that when im going to practice with sideshore winds i can make some runs offshore but not easily back to the beach. Should i practice only with onshore winds for the first couple of times (risking that i dont have many space to make mistakes)

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